Speaker 1: Welcome back to unplugged. Forgive us we missed you guys.
Speaker 1: Last week All Star was All Star was All Star.
Speaker 1: But we're back this week with excited, with an exciting show.
Speaker 1: PK Sue Band stop by to discuss his comments about
Speaker 1: the NBA and the NHL. They ruffled some feathers but
Speaker 1: also got a lot of praise for. We also have
Speaker 1: Keenan Duley stopping by to talk NBA, and one of
Speaker 1: my favorites, Rachel Nichols is here to discuss all things basketball.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: I want to welcome to the show. PK Sue Ban
Speaker 1: Sue Band, Sue Band, Sue Band. Yeah, and I just
Speaker 1: said perfectly. PK Sue Band, thirteen year NHL VET was
Speaker 1: out here recently for the LA Strong charity game to
Speaker 1: support the firefighters.
Speaker 2: We appreciate that. How was that game?
Speaker 3: It was awesome?
Speaker 4: Best hot, best fraternity in sports in my opinions, hockey
Speaker 4: because when we do those things, we come strong and
Speaker 4: everybody showed out.
Speaker 3: We have people flying in from all over.
Speaker 1: I saw someone took you down though, Oh yeah, what happened?
Speaker 4: Well, you know hockey, Matt looks when you put the
Speaker 4: gear on, you step on the ice, you gotta be
Speaker 4: ready to go, so I did. I didn't have my
Speaker 4: fighting strap on, and I didn't pack a big enough
Speaker 4: lunch his kids. The best part about that whole thing
Speaker 4: was in the locker room after his kids came up
Speaker 4: to me and they're like, ah, my dad beat you up.
Speaker 4: So that was pretty funny to see the kids enjoying
Speaker 4: it and celebrating it. But there were a couple of fights,
Speaker 4: but everybody good cause love to come out and support
Speaker 4: LA and be there. So if I got to take
Speaker 4: a beating for the team, I'll take one.
Speaker 1: Four nations tournament, huge win for the NHL. And like
Speaker 1: most All Star events, it you know all. I mean,
Speaker 1: the NFL doesn't even do that. They do Skills Challenge
Speaker 1: now and obviously we'll get to what the NBA's All
Speaker 1: Star event is. But you guys transitioned into this four
Speaker 1: nation tournament and had a lot of success.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, going into it, nobody really knew what
Speaker 4: to expect. It was something new, you know. Obviously with
Speaker 4: just four nations, I mean, anything can happen. Right, Let's
Speaker 4: say the final, I mean it could have been Sweden
Speaker 4: and Film and in the final.
Speaker 3: What would that have done for our ratings.
Speaker 4: But the hockey was so great that even the games
Speaker 4: that you know, people weren't talking about were games.
Speaker 3: And people ended up talking about.
Speaker 4: So I think that it was set up for success
Speaker 4: and to me, where the league was going into that
Speaker 4: we were prepared to take that step. And I don't
Speaker 4: think that we were before. I think we were getting
Speaker 4: there and you could see it happening and evolving. I
Speaker 4: think players, you know, we have all these different podcasts
Speaker 4: and shows, and players have different interests now, so I
Speaker 4: think people are starting to feel comfortable just being themselves
Speaker 4: and showing who they are. And for us, we know
Speaker 4: who we are as a sport, but we have to
Speaker 4: show the world that. And you know, ultimately it's great
Speaker 4: internally in your circle, in your world of sports right
Speaker 4: to understand it. But we need new fans. We need
Speaker 4: to bring people into our game. We need to share
Speaker 4: our game. That's the best part about playing the game
Speaker 4: and loving the game is being able to share it
Speaker 4: with people and allow them to do it.
Speaker 3: And you know this with sports.
Speaker 4: You know, look at the LA Strong Because of hockey,
Speaker 4: we're able to support a great cause like that. So
Speaker 4: it is bigger than just what happens on the ice,
Speaker 4: and our players understand that. So going into Four Nations,
Speaker 4: you know, whether it was ESPN and what we did
Speaker 4: with the NHL to make sure that everything was right
Speaker 4: on the broadcast, making sure we're getting eyes on the
Speaker 4: sport exposure. What happened at Four Nations was on the
Speaker 4: backs of the players and they they stepped up in
Speaker 4: a way that I probably haven't seen. And you know,
Speaker 4: Team Canada they did their thing, They did their thing,
Speaker 4: but you look at Team USA, Brady Kuchuk, Matthew Kachuck,
Speaker 4: Team USA, all that they did that tournament to promote
Speaker 4: the game. Forget everything else, Forget what was on the ice,
Speaker 4: the interviews, giving the time, you know, not just being
Speaker 4: there and saying, yes, we got to play sixty minutes,
Speaker 4: no giving us real answers, feeding into it, understanding the
Speaker 4: event and what we're trying to do. And you got
Speaker 4: to remember, this is sports, but it's entertainment and you
Speaker 4: know that's a part of it too, and our players
Speaker 4: understood that and they executed it to a t. You know,
Speaker 4: people talk about the fighting being staged. You can't stage
Speaker 4: a fight when you're getting punched in the face. So
Speaker 4: what you need to see blood to understand that it
Speaker 4: is real. I'm telling you it's real. The players took
Speaker 4: it upon themselves to say, not only do we want
Speaker 4: to win, we're going to put on a show, and
Speaker 4: that was the de facto for us at four Nations
Speaker 4: and why it was a home run. So, you know,
Speaker 4: hats off to everybody that did a great job.
Speaker 1: There's no mystery. The NBA has been trying to find
Speaker 1: a solution for All Star, which leads me to our
Speaker 1: you know the next part. You know, you spoke on it,
Speaker 1: and you spoke from a perspective of a lot of fans,
Speaker 1: just the frustration with the lack of effort. Let's take
Speaker 1: a look at what you said.
Speaker 3: Can you see it?
Speaker 4: It's because it's not just based on the skill and talent,
Speaker 4: it's based on the pride, honor playing.
Speaker 3: For the guy next to you.
Speaker 4: I got a question for the NBA players, what the
Speaker 4: hell are you playing? What are you playing for? It's
Speaker 4: not about the money you make all the money. What
Speaker 4: you're injured? Well, there's a difference between being hurt and injured.
Speaker 4: Are you hurt or are you injured? There's a difference.
Speaker 3: In hockey. We play hurt, we play injured.
Speaker 1: Obviously I didn't get a chance to see the Four
Speaker 1: Nations tournament, but to me it made sense. And then
Speaker 1: to hear the post cap and in the recap of
Speaker 1: how well it went, I mean there was a pride,
Speaker 1: sense of pride there, it sounds like, and it turned
Speaker 1: out to be some great hockey. The NBA has been
Speaker 1: trying to juggle what to do with this game since
Speaker 1: Kobe left, so I may say a little bit before,
Speaker 1: but most of the time they were pretty competitive, at
Speaker 1: least in the fourth quarters. Kind of take us into
Speaker 1: just kind of your thinking. Obviously, again, hockey kind of
Speaker 1: had to try to find something new and they found it.
Speaker 2: Maybe the NBA.
Speaker 1: Is it a transition for the NBA to do us
Speaker 1: versus the world and really bring some competitive nature out.
Speaker 1: And another thing you said is just like when certain
Speaker 1: guys were in charge of kind of somewhat the lead,
Speaker 1: so to speak, it was a competitive game for the NBA.
Speaker 1: So what kind of what kind of standpoint were you
Speaker 1: coming from when you were kind of breaking down your
Speaker 1: one hundred percent.
Speaker 4: I did speak on behalf of the fans, but I
Speaker 4: think I also spoke to some players too, and not
Speaker 4: just current players, retired players, athletes that are no longer
Speaker 4: around the game but still watch the game and enjoy it,
Speaker 4: that look at the game and say, you know what,
Speaker 4: I don't like that, or hey, I wish this was
Speaker 4: still the same? Why is that changing all that stuff?
Speaker 4: And you know, that's the feedback that I've gotten back
Speaker 4: from a lot of players and athletes is that they
Speaker 4: appreciated it, because you know, in our sport, in hockey,
Speaker 4: there's a lot of guys who didn't make a million
Speaker 4: dollars a year, that didn't make eight million dollars nine
Speaker 4: million dollars.
Speaker 3: That had to go and find jobs after playing.
Speaker 4: But you want to know something, those guys played banged up,
Speaker 4: they played hurt, they played injured, they fought, They gave
Speaker 4: everything they had to give. And that has allowed me
Speaker 4: to make the money that I made in the National
Speaker 4: Hockey League. That has allowed me to have a decent
Speaker 4: job after my career is over because now we have
Speaker 4: a TV deal. So what I'm saying is you cannot forget.
Speaker 3: But Matt, you know this. You play with superstars.
Speaker 4: You played against them, right, you see them.
Speaker 3: That is a small percentage of the sport. Are the stars?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 4: You know, people forget about the rest of the league, like,
Speaker 4: there's a lot of other guys out there, and we
Speaker 4: have to think about it. The responsibility of the players
Speaker 4: is to push the game forward. If you are a
Speaker 4: part of that greatness conversation, that's how I'm evaluating you.
Speaker 4: Are you moving the needle for the game or you're
Speaker 4: just moving it for you, Because if you're moving it
Speaker 4: for you, we'll celebrate you as a great player.
Speaker 3: We'll say, hey, you're a great player, awesome, you know,
Speaker 3: one of the all time.
Speaker 4: But to put you in that category of a Michael Jordan,
Speaker 4: a Kobe Bryant, in my opinion, because I followed those guys,
Speaker 4: I didn't follow them just because of their rings. I
Speaker 4: followed them because of their mentality, their approach to the game.
Speaker 4: That is I take. I celebrate that more than anything
Speaker 4: in sports. I don't care. I will take a guy
Speaker 4: that empties the tank on the ice and loses on.
Speaker 3: A bad balance or bat.
Speaker 4: I will celebrate them as a champion because that's what
Speaker 4: I want guys to follow. That is what is sports
Speaker 4: is all about. There's got to be a winner and
Speaker 4: there's got to be a loser. It's not always the
Speaker 4: best team that wins it's not always the best player
Speaker 4: that ends up hoisting the trophy. But ultimately, what I
Speaker 4: have to take from you is when I watch you
Speaker 4: for eighty two games, do you give everything you have?
Speaker 4: Do you show up every night? Do you do right
Speaker 4: by your teammates? Do you do right by the game,
Speaker 4: Because ultimately, that is the best part of your legacy.
Speaker 4: That is what people will remember about you, more than your.
Speaker 3: Championships and your rings.
Speaker 2: No, I agree, I think that's been a that's been
Speaker 2: an issue with the league. What did we discuss.
Speaker 1: I mean, obviously all stars kind of all stars a
Speaker 1: whole different thing. I think just the amount of money
Speaker 1: that's in the NBA now is incredible, and I'm happy
Speaker 1: for those guys to be able to make as much
Speaker 1: money as possible, but it has brought the load management,
Speaker 1: and whether that's team or guys sitting out, it's caused
Speaker 1: a lot of issues from a fans perspective, I think,
Speaker 1: and just people who love the game, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean. Obviously, the NBA needed to do something too,
Speaker 1: and we talked about before we got on camera that
Speaker 1: David Stern's vision of being able to promote superstars within
Speaker 1: a team game, and I think that's what's grown the
Speaker 1: game and obviously made it international. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: there's so much money injected into it and there's so
Speaker 1: much science behind the game that this rest stuff rubs
Speaker 1: a lot of people.
Speaker 2: The wrong way.
Speaker 1: Whether you played or not. You know, you're getting paid
Speaker 1: a ton of money. It cost our family a ton
Speaker 1: of money to come see you, and we may only
Speaker 1: get to see you one time a year or one
Speaker 1: time our lives, and the one time we go, the
Speaker 1: best players isn't playing because of load management or just
Speaker 1: taking a night off. And I can see how fans
Speaker 1: can have an issue with that, because you know, we
Speaker 1: came from an era of early two thousands where it
Speaker 1: was it was a badger honor to try to play
Speaker 1: eighty two games and play through shit that you know
Speaker 1: you can. There's some shit you can't play through when
Speaker 1: no one's asking you to play for that, but there
Speaker 1: is shit that you could probably get through. But each
Speaker 1: of those situations are, you know, kind of each.
Speaker 2: Of their own.
Speaker 1: So I do agree a lot with what you said,
Speaker 1: and I think sometimes I think you kind of got
Speaker 1: to mix reaction from it, and you can tell me
Speaker 1: because one thing I'll say is sometimes I feel like
Speaker 1: athletes don't like other athletes speaking about their sport. But
Speaker 1: if anyone can speak about a sport, it is another
Speaker 1: athlete because you've made it to that kind of level
Speaker 1: in your respective sports. And then I think another time
Speaker 1: where NBA takes a lot of backlash. These guys are
Speaker 1: making so much motherfucking money, so there's a jealousat there's
Speaker 1: a jealousy component and hater component involved in it. But
Speaker 1: I think when it just comes down to actually competing,
Speaker 1: if you can play every single game, play every single game,
Speaker 1: I think the NBA definitely lacks that right now.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and here's the thing.
Speaker 4: Those guys are on the biggest platform in sports. I mean,
Speaker 4: NFL is huge two but they have the TV deals.
Speaker 4: What I'm saying is it's not that they don't deserve
Speaker 4: the money they do the game.
Speaker 3: The game has grown to that that's the money you're making.
Speaker 4: But what I'm saying is with sports, there are core
Speaker 4: elements to sports that to me, need to be staples.
Speaker 4: You need to show up for fucking work. Yeah, you
Speaker 4: have to be on the fucking floor. I don't care
Speaker 4: like for me, the team will support you, the league
Speaker 4: will support you. If you can't go if you're hurt
Speaker 4: and you can't go find But I'm watching Kobe walk
Speaker 4: off the court with his frigging finger dislocated, popping it
Speaker 4: back in and going his achilles is torn, and he's
Speaker 4: shooting free throws. These are the facts. This is not
Speaker 4: like I'm not making it up. It's right there for
Speaker 4: you to see. So do we want to celebrate that
Speaker 4: or not? Do we want to treat him differently because
Speaker 4: he speaks five different languages and he didn't grow up
Speaker 4: in the fucking hood, Like, No, the guy's a gamer.
Speaker 4: He's a gamer. Michael Jordan's a gamer. Those guys leave
Speaker 4: it all on the floor. They don't care, they break
Speaker 4: their nose, they don't care. They want to leave it,
Speaker 4: they want to kill. I want to see athletes that
Speaker 4: want to go out and win it all costs and
Speaker 4: we'll give everything. Those are the guys I would go
Speaker 4: to war with. So it's not about fighting. It's not
Speaker 4: about going out there and fighting. You gotta fight for
Speaker 4: the opportunity. You have to fight for the next generation.
Speaker 4: You have to fight for yourself and your family. You
Speaker 4: have to fight for the league. Your job is to
Speaker 4: shine the league's shield. If you are a star player,
Speaker 4: that is your responsibility. Okay, you don't have to carry
Speaker 4: that around David Stern he had trust with Michael Jordan
Speaker 4: that he was going to do the right things. He
Speaker 4: had trust with So there's trust that has to be
Speaker 4: there and the fans through that trust. It goes back
Speaker 4: to the fans. Do the fans trust you? Do they
Speaker 4: trust it you're gonna show up for them? Do they
Speaker 4: trust it? They're paying the money and they're getting their
Speaker 4: money's worth, you know, all those things matter.
Speaker 1: Yeah, a lot of things. Things are falling on the
Speaker 1: Lebrons and the Kds and Steps because they're at the
Speaker 1: end of their career and they're obviously the biggest stars
Speaker 1: in our game. But the game they came into was
Speaker 1: a different game, you know what I mean. And they
Speaker 1: bought into that and led with that. So you know,
Speaker 1: my whole question is it's not necessarily a question that
Speaker 1: I just will it ever change? Because the president has
Speaker 1: been set. So with these next the three guys I
Speaker 1: mentioned moving on in the next who knows the fucking
Speaker 1: bron But next two to three years, I'd say they're
Speaker 1: all out of the NBA. This next run of great
Speaker 1: and title incredibly skilled talent. Will they change the tone
Speaker 1: or will they follow in what they kind of knew
Speaker 1: as youngsters? You know, Like you said, I think it
Speaker 1: takes the leaders of the league to set the tone.
Speaker 1: And is it too late for the kds and and
Speaker 1: the steps and the Lebrons to kind of be like, hey, guys,
Speaker 1: we're going out there are because they are at the
Speaker 1: A's there are and the game is what it is.
Speaker 1: Do we need to allow them to kind of ride
Speaker 1: off in the sun and really put the onus on
Speaker 1: this next generation of young players to really try to
Speaker 1: set the tone right.
Speaker 3: And and I'm gonna be clear on this.
Speaker 4: You know, for Katie's Stephan Lebron, they're on the they're
Speaker 4: on the latter part of their career. Everything you're getting
Speaker 4: from them is a bonus, so you gotta celebrate them
Speaker 4: and enjoy the okay, But for this new generation that's
Speaker 4: coming in, you can't be letting these guys off the hook,
Speaker 4: like no, no, no, no, no, I'm sorry. You gotta be
Speaker 4: on the court, you gotta you gotta be a gamer,
Speaker 4: you gotta be all in because those guys, you know what,
Speaker 4: it's not gonna be exactly like Kobe and Michael Jordan.
Speaker 4: No one expects anybody to be like Kobe Michael Jordan.
Speaker 4: But we gotta see those elements competitiveness, We have to
Speaker 4: see those elements like they We gotta see those elements.
Speaker 4: I want to see a dog. You gotta entertain, You
Speaker 4: gotta put on a show every opportunity.
Speaker 3: You have to sell the game. You gotta step up.
Speaker 1: And no wonder two has that has the money tarnished
Speaker 1: because the money is so astronomical now has it kind
Speaker 1: of tarnished it. It's even starting at a younger age
Speaker 1: now too. With basketball. You know, I mean the nil
Speaker 1: situation college. You know there's kids Cooper Flags projected to
Speaker 1: be number one pick time. I want to go back
Speaker 1: to college. I want to stay in college. And you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. So the money is so crazy now,
Speaker 1: and guys are understanding. Like I said to me, it's
Speaker 1: always crazy because there's medicine now to supposedly understand load
Speaker 1: management and keeping guys healthy. But it seems like now
Speaker 1: guys are more hurt than ever, one hundred percent more
Speaker 1: hurt than ever.
Speaker 3: Big time.
Speaker 4: Well once again, so let's go back to the playing part.
Speaker 4: You can't expect your body to respond in the war
Speaker 4: if you don't put it in the battle.
Speaker 3: So what I'm saying is you're off season training to
Speaker 3: prepare your body for war. Are you prepared for war?
Speaker 4: Or are you prepared to go out there and dance
Speaker 4: around the court and then you get bumped and now
Speaker 4: you get sore, and now it's your hip And No,
Speaker 4: the season is not about getting in shape and getting
Speaker 4: in playing shape.
Speaker 3: You need to be if you are making two one.
Speaker 4: Hundred and fifty three hundred million, your only job is
Speaker 4: to make sure that your body is equipped to handle
Speaker 4: eighty two games plus. It's not on the game that
Speaker 4: you're hurt. It's on you. It's not on the game. Lebron,
Speaker 4: let's talk about Lebron. He's been playing for freaking forty years.
Speaker 4: The guy is on the court most of the time. Like, yes,
Speaker 4: he misses games, but he's forty years old. But what
Speaker 4: I'm saying is, whether you like him don't like him,
Speaker 4: the guy takes care of his body. He takes care
Speaker 4: of himself. So what I'm saying is for these other guys,
Speaker 4: if you're not on that level, you need to be
Speaker 4: all in. If you're out.
Speaker 3: Jumping around, you want to go on vacation and do
Speaker 3: all that stuff.
Speaker 4: We all do it. I did it, But you got
Speaker 4: to make sure that you're on the court. Because when
Speaker 4: you're doing all that stuff and you got the money
Speaker 4: and you're doing all.
Speaker 3: The fans, you got to show up. You got to
Speaker 3: show up.
Speaker 4: So to me, I think that the culture of sports
Speaker 4: has changed. I think there's all these gimmicks in training
Speaker 4: and that's why guys are getting hurt. Like training is
Speaker 4: very very simple. You gotta know your craft, know your sport.
Speaker 4: You gotta be strong. Asketball guys, I'll tell you this,
Speaker 4: they don't want to lift. They want to go in
Speaker 4: the gym and shoot you. Tell me if I'm wrong,
Speaker 4: call me out if I'm wrong. But most guys, in
Speaker 4: my opinion, don't understand that they got to be strong.
Speaker 3: Just because you're playing basket. It's a contact sport.
Speaker 4: You're still getting hit, you're still hitting the floor, you're
Speaker 4: still getting bumped. So your body has to be able
Speaker 4: to take that. You got to earn every inch you're running,
Speaker 4: you're jumping, you're pounding. Are you preparing your body for that?
Speaker 4: And to me, I think that there's a lot of
Speaker 4: gimmicks across sports and training, not just in basketball, but
Speaker 4: how you train and prepare.
Speaker 3: Your body is also a part of why you get paid.
Speaker 4: Like, you can't give somebody three hundred million that doesn't
Speaker 4: know how to take care of their body because they're
Speaker 4: not going to be on the court. So once again,
Speaker 4: how do we value greatness? Greatness isn't just about winning championships.
Speaker 4: It's your approach to the game. You need to set
Speaker 4: example for your teammates. We have young draft picks coming in.
Speaker 4: Are you going to be a good mentor to them?
Speaker 4: Are you going to be a good example. Are they
Speaker 4: going to see you every day at the gym doing
Speaker 4: the things that are right? I don't know all those
Speaker 4: things matter, and that's why we see organizations that never
Speaker 4: ever come out of that spot because they don't draft
Speaker 4: the right guys.
Speaker 1: One thing I will say that hurts the NBA a lot,
Speaker 1: and I think it's overlooked, and we've been saying it
Speaker 1: for a long time, the lack of veterans in the
Speaker 1: league period because older players and you probably I don't
Speaker 1: know what a lockey room locker room was like, but
Speaker 1: I remember I came in the league and two three
Speaker 1: and there were ogs s motherfucker smoking cigarettes in the
Speaker 1: locker room thirty eight, thirty nine to forty. Whether they're
Speaker 1: on the court or not, they were just there and
Speaker 1: they were instrumental in just our mentality, the way we
Speaker 1: carried ourselves, our work ethic, the way we dressed, the
Speaker 1: shit we did. And the game doesn't have that nowhere.
Speaker 1: The game is now is so young and everyone has
Speaker 1: to play and if you can't, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: So it's just like I think the game sincerely, missus vets.
Speaker 4: And why is that? Because when they came into the league,
Speaker 4: the game wasn't where it was. They needed to be
Speaker 4: all in because they're like, we gotta make money, we
Speaker 4: got to.
Speaker 3: Grow the game.
Speaker 4: We have to do right by the So now people
Speaker 4: are walking in, they' getting paid thirty forty fifty million,
Speaker 4: if not one hundred million before they hit the court.
Speaker 4: But for me, I'm sitting here saying like, did you
Speaker 4: dream about playing in the NBA? Did you dream about
Speaker 4: competing in a championship? Did you dream about hoisting the
Speaker 4: Larry O'Brien trophy?
Speaker 3: Like? Did you?
Speaker 4: Or was it just you wanted a sneaker deal, you
Speaker 4: wanted to be like the guy on TV like all
Speaker 4: that stuff is great. Like Mark Messier. I always tell
Speaker 4: Messad this all the time. See he's sixty three years old.
Speaker 4: But like, I don't remember mess from playing. I remember
Speaker 4: him from the Lais commercials. That's what I remember from him.
Speaker 4: I'm like, dude, I've seen you in more Lais commercials
Speaker 4: than i've seen you with two hands up. And he
Speaker 4: scored so many goals, He's won six Cups. That was
Speaker 4: my generation. But it's okay. That's I choose to watch
Speaker 4: the last dance. I chose to fight my way down
Speaker 4: to TV Garden for Kobe's last game to meet him,
Speaker 4: to see him with ice bags on his knees and
Speaker 4: surround it, and meet Vanessa and meet his kids and
Speaker 4: get his numb or in text with them during the
Speaker 4: Stanley Cup finals and have that relationship.
Speaker 3: I was hungry for that. Not to say, Kobe, can
Speaker 3: I get you sneakers?
Speaker 1: No.
Speaker 4: I wanted what he could offer to me to make
Speaker 4: me a better player, a better athlete. And I think
Speaker 4: that that's what I'm talking about with all of this stuff,
Speaker 4: is our athletes that are coming in. What is your mentality,
Speaker 4: who are you following? What are you doing it for?
Speaker 4: And we got to ask those questions too, because I'm
Speaker 4: telling you to invest in someone, no matter how talented
Speaker 4: they are, if they don't have those intangibles and you're
Speaker 4: trying to win a championship, it ain't gonna work. So
Speaker 4: you know, we're trying to win a championship, you're trying
Speaker 4: to build the league, you're trying to grow the league.
Speaker 4: Those intangibles are important for me.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think we can talk about this all day,
Speaker 1: but before we get you out of here, we discussed
Speaker 1: off camera, just the newer commissioner or new Garyman.
Speaker 4: Yeah, no, he's Gary's been doing this over thirty years now,
Speaker 4: forgive me.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but very close.
Speaker 1: David Stern was, wait, that's what you're talking about? That
Speaker 1: The point I was trying to get to was kind
Speaker 1: of of being able to you said, what's helped the
Speaker 1: game if you're an ultimate team type of guy, is
Speaker 1: hockey is an ultimate team type of sport. But what
Speaker 1: has held the game back is the same thing. And
Speaker 1: I told you know what, David Stern vision his ability
Speaker 1: to promote stars within a team game. And you feel
Speaker 1: like Beckman is on the way to starting to do
Speaker 1: that more because one thing I heard when KG kind
Speaker 1: of responded to what you said, and what I kind
Speaker 1: of got from what he said is just like, you know,
Speaker 1: there's a part of what he said was you guys
Speaker 1: don't appeal to the majority of our culture at all.
Speaker 1: And you're right, And I said, and I told you before,
Speaker 1: I didn't appreciate hockey till I got a chance to
Speaker 1: go to the Stanley Cup finals when the King's playing
Speaker 1: and I saw it live off the puck action all
Speaker 1: the kind of completely changed my point of view. But
Speaker 1: for the people who aren't fortunate enough to do that,
Speaker 1: what do you think your league can do to promote
Speaker 1: to our communities and our culture.
Speaker 4: That's a great question. So the first thing is this.
Speaker 4: You know, when I retired, you know, I said to myself,
Speaker 4: what can I do? What can I do to give back?
Speaker 4: And really why I stepped on TV was to do that,
Speaker 4: you know, was to be a part of helping the
Speaker 4: game grow to a certain extent. You're right, So part
Speaker 4: of the game not growing has been that team aspect
Speaker 4: of it. Team first, and our core hockey fans they're
Speaker 4: the most loyal fans, right, They're loyal to that. But
Speaker 4: to get new fans in it's got to be personalized
Speaker 4: because these young kids coming up, they don't know about
Speaker 4: the one hundred year history of the Montreal Canadians. You know,
Speaker 4: they understand Original six, but they don't understand the Rangers
Speaker 4: and the Montreal that have been around for one hundred years.
Speaker 4: They're only going to see our Temmy panerin. They're going
Speaker 4: to see Connor McDavid. Those are the players that people
Speaker 4: are coming to watch now. So you got to sell
Speaker 4: it to them that how do we apply to different demographics. Well,
Speaker 4: it's this You've got to cross over. It's doing different
Speaker 4: things to bring people in. It starts with grassroots in
Speaker 4: the community. If you're in Chicago, are you just the
Speaker 4: Chicago Blackhawks or are you present in the community. And
Speaker 4: you know, I'm co chair on the p C. There's
Speaker 4: a lot of grassroots programs now that we do. I
Speaker 4: remember I was a part of a program in Toronto
Speaker 4: called Hockey Hyundai Helpers Program and we used to donate
Speaker 4: equipment and do all those things. The biggest divide is
Speaker 4: the money. It is the money that is the biggest thing.
Speaker 4: It's not about our sport. It's not about it being racist,
Speaker 4: it's not about it being white. It ain't that like I.
Speaker 3: Played in it.
Speaker 4: Of course, you're gonna face those things in every walk
Speaker 4: of life. So anybody thinking you're just gonna see it
Speaker 4: in hockey is.
Speaker 2: Crazy, you know.
Speaker 4: So for me, it's the money that is the biggest variable.
Speaker 4: And you know, we're doing things. There's a lot of
Speaker 4: things in our sport now to create opportunities for kids
Speaker 4: to get equipment and play.
Speaker 3: And I'm an advocate for that.
Speaker 4: So you know, I started a program called Blue Line
Speaker 4: Buddies program to get underprivileged youth into our game, and
Speaker 4: we're going to continue to grow that to open up
Speaker 4: doors for scholarships, intern opportunities for kids that want to
Speaker 4: be in sport who can use hockey. And I've seen
Speaker 4: it grow. We talked about the first round this year,
Speaker 4: thirty two picks. I'm pretty sure that like out of
Speaker 4: the thirty two, like twenty of them weren't white. Like
Speaker 4: they're from different backgrounds, So the game is already growing.
Speaker 4: I think it's the first thing is do people know
Speaker 4: about our game hockey?
Speaker 3: What's that? Well, here it is, tune in, watch a game.
Speaker 3: Here's what it is.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 4: Stephen A said something to me when I was on
Speaker 4: first take that really resonated, and he had said, you know,
Speaker 4: I think that for the NHL, it's like, what do
Speaker 4: you guys do now after four nations?
Speaker 3: You know, what do you guys do to keep it going?
Speaker 4: And he said, you know, you could do a lot
Speaker 4: with the rivalries in every night, you know, rivalry games
Speaker 4: in original six. But what the NBA does very, very
Speaker 4: good is when you turn on your TV, they're not
Speaker 4: just talking about the games. They're talking about what production
Speaker 4: thing Lebron's doing. They're talking about him in the space
Speaker 4: Jam video, they're talking about this, they're talking about that.
Speaker 4: It's a lifestyle show. It's not a basketball show. So
Speaker 4: you know, in hockey it's always about hockey, hockey and
Speaker 4: excells and use we don't talk about anything else. So
Speaker 4: part of what I do on the broadcast is to
Speaker 4: talk about other things because I'm gonna tell you some
Speaker 4: If you don't know anything about hockey, what the hell
Speaker 4: are you gonna.
Speaker 3: Understand when I'm talking about a Ford check.
Speaker 2: No, I'm saying, listen, how can you connect?
Speaker 4: Right?
Speaker 3: And you've got to connect with people, So it starts
Speaker 3: with this, what's your message?
Speaker 4: Your message has to be something that resonates with those people.
Speaker 4: So I know this, If a black person turns on
Speaker 4: the TV and sees me on ABC, they're gonna say, shit,
Speaker 4: who the hell is this guy?
Speaker 3: And did he play hockey? Right?
Speaker 4: So what I'm saying sometimes it's a visual thing. There's
Speaker 4: there's a symbolism part of it, and then there's the message.
Speaker 4: And I think that with those two things, we can
Speaker 4: show people, first of all, feel welcome to come into
Speaker 4: our sport, Feel welcome to come to a game. The
Speaker 4: second part is if you love sports and you're true
Speaker 4: sports fan, this is something you're going to get into.
Speaker 4: And I think for a lot of people they're scared
Speaker 4: of what they don't know, like me and you. You know,
Speaker 4: everybody would be frightened to step into something that they
Speaker 4: don't understand. So how do we make them understand it?
Speaker 4: The first thing is grassroots, getting kids involved, making the
Speaker 4: game more affordable for them. The second thing is symbolism.
Speaker 4: People got to see their people, People got to see
Speaker 4: things that they resonate.
Speaker 3: So having Snoop Dogg at the LA Strong game justin.
Speaker 4: Bieber, having those people show up, just that alone moves
Speaker 4: the needle for us in a big, big way. Right,
Speaker 4: and then it's the message right, it's you're welcome to come.
Speaker 4: We cut all this crap out. I don't want to
Speaker 4: hear nothing about players. Our players are the best. We
Speaker 4: have no issues with our players saying crap or anything
Speaker 4: like that, like any of that stuff.
Speaker 3: It's very, very small.
Speaker 4: So we got a great group of players in our
Speaker 4: league that respect the game, that understand it. During the pandemic,
Speaker 4: when we had all that stuff with black lives our players.
Speaker 3: I could not have been more proud for me.
Speaker 4: That was a big turning point for me when I
Speaker 4: reached when Sydney Crosby reaches out to me and I
Speaker 4: reach out to them, and I had an idea to
Speaker 4: start something. You know, we never did it because we
Speaker 4: created the PC and we did all this. But as
Speaker 4: a player, as a black player, I'm reaching out to
Speaker 4: every single player and I'm saying, hey, I'm gonna I'm
Speaker 4: thinking about doing this program. It's gonna involve bringing under
Speaker 4: privilege juice. Yeah, I'm in Sid Goes, you know what PK.
Speaker 3: I'm in.
Speaker 4: But I'd like you to even talk to the younger
Speaker 4: guy because when I move on, I want these guys
Speaker 4: to continue it.
Speaker 3: That's what he's telling me.
Speaker 4: So it's not about he doesn't have to jump up
Speaker 4: in front of a microphone and put his hand up. No,
Speaker 4: he doesn't need to do that. Our players are all in.
Speaker 4: That's why when I say they're all in, they're all in.
Speaker 4: They know what's asked of them. They're sick and tired
Speaker 4: of people painting them with this brush that hockey's a
Speaker 4: racist gay It's it's not. They're great guys. They love
Speaker 4: the sport, they love everybody. The hockey locker room is
Speaker 4: one of the best. That's what I miss about the game.
Speaker 4: I miss being in the locker room. So I truly
Speaker 4: love the players in the game. I love all the
Speaker 4: guys that I played with and played against, And you know,
Speaker 4: I just want to make sure they get their due,
Speaker 4: that people know what they're all about. Then you can
Speaker 4: make your decision. But don't be scared of hockey. It's
Speaker 4: a great sport if you when you go to a game,
Speaker 4: you'll be a fan forever. That I can guarantee. Black white, brown,
Speaker 4: purple from timbuckt from Toronto, from l A You're Gonna Love.
Speaker 2: Argument No definitely changed my perspective of PK. Man.
Speaker 1: I appreciate your time and best of luck continuing to
Speaker 1: grow the game and doing your part to help that happen.
Speaker 3: Listen, you and KG got you guys got to get
Speaker 3: me back on here. Man.
Speaker 1: I want to come on and tell basketball we got
Speaker 1: we got some uh k KG big ticket baby ticket
Speaker 1: right there.
Speaker 4: That Hey, g man, you are the big ticket. You
Speaker 4: are the truth. Respect, love and he was a dog. Yes,
Speaker 4: that is a guy that I loved to watch play.
Speaker 4: And my sister loved to watch you play too.
Speaker 5: Man.
Speaker 1: She's a big bet. We'll connect it. We'll connect the
Speaker 1: dots for you too. Please, all right, thank you, and
Speaker 1: I want to welcome in the show. Uh my brother
Speaker 1: ke On Dueling and key on. You heard the conversation
Speaker 1: that p K and I just had and some of
Speaker 1: the producers saying you were texting some information. So what
Speaker 1: were your thoughts because obviously he he got some good
Speaker 1: feedback and he ruffled some feathers with his with his
Speaker 1: uh you know kind of point of view.
Speaker 6: Yeah, great commentary, man, I think you know, man, PK
Speaker 6: has actually peaked my interest in the NHL, right, you
Speaker 6: know what I mean. He's charismatic, he's smart, he's got
Speaker 6: a great delivery. So I think he's great for that game, right,
Speaker 6: But I also believe, you know, like you know, I
Speaker 6: think it was you know, the timing of you know,
Speaker 6: his his his.
Speaker 7: Commentary, you know what I mean.
Speaker 6: I feel like, you know, us as Hooper sometimes, you know,
Speaker 6: we could feel a certain type way, so kind.
Speaker 7: Of listening, you know, we can we can fuel a
Speaker 7: certain type way, you know what I mean.
Speaker 6: You know, especially leagues that you know haven't ascended to
Speaker 6: the level that we have, you know, on a television basis,
Speaker 6: on a fan base basis, on a ticket sales basis,
Speaker 6: on all the matrics.
Speaker 7: That you can measure.
Speaker 6: So I understand it, man, and I think, you know,
Speaker 6: he's a great voice, you know what I mean, for
Speaker 6: that particular industry. But we can't fade in hoops anymore,
Speaker 6: right we you know what I mean, hard foul those
Speaker 6: are flavorantwos now. So there's certain things that the players
Speaker 6: don't have control of, And I think the narrative sometimes
Speaker 6: is that it's the players are not producing, performing playing
Speaker 6: the way that the game used to be, but the
Speaker 6: elements and the rules have.
Speaker 7: Shifted, so they they don't have a choice.
Speaker 6: They have to play within the concept of those rules
Speaker 6: and they have to adapt and adjust to the game
Speaker 6: that they're in now. But I definitely, you know, love
Speaker 6: PK and I'm gonna take more of an interest in
Speaker 6: hockey because of his commentary and his passion and his delivery.
Speaker 1: Katie, we discussed before we jumped on air with you
Speaker 1: was about and it was interesting to me because I
Speaker 1: didn't really know this.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: My whole thing is I agreed with a lot of
Speaker 1: the stuff he was saying. As far as being available
Speaker 1: to be on the court. I feel like the NBA
Speaker 1: has so much technology now and and and modern medicine is,
Speaker 1: as you know, the leading, all the analytics shit and
Speaker 1: all this and all that. I say all that to say,
Speaker 1: guys are still hurt more and playing less, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. And you brought up a point like,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe it's more on the teams as far
Speaker 1: as wanting to not we're not save these guys, but
Speaker 1: have them in peak performance when it comes to playoff times.
Speaker 1: And then my pushback to that was these motherfuckers are
Speaker 1: still missing playoff games still.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I want to.
Speaker 1: Talk about we don't have to do too much of
Speaker 1: a deep die because I think we both see. Both
Speaker 1: sides know this of it. But but let me know
Speaker 1: your thoughts on that.
Speaker 6: You know, I think there's a it's a catch twenty two,
Speaker 6: it's a double air sward, right, because you know, I
Speaker 6: think there's a healthy responsibility that you know, is on
Speaker 6: the players and on the way that the.
Speaker 7: Rules are now.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 6: I just know that in our generation, we did push through.
Speaker 6: We did do toward all shots, we did do cortasone shots.
Speaker 7: We did play through you.
Speaker 6: Know, being hurt, right, but sometimes guys were injured and
Speaker 6: had to play through. You know, Grant Hill pushing through
Speaker 6: in the playoffs, you know, against the heat, which is
Speaker 6: something that you know, kind of halted his career where
Speaker 6: we could have had one of our transcending players at
Speaker 6: his best. But you know, because it's quote is toughness
Speaker 6: might have been questioned in that moment, His commitment might
Speaker 6: have been questioned in that moment. He played through that,
Speaker 6: and he suffered through that the rest of his career.
Speaker 6: Now he was able to continue to play, but that
Speaker 6: was hell. That was the feelie man. Grant Hill drinks
Speaker 6: frite type stuff, you know what I mean. And so
Speaker 6: I think it's a healthy balance that we have to find.
Speaker 6: And then I think the elephant in the room is that,
Speaker 6: like the game is shifted. It's not just about like toughness,
Speaker 6: you know, being courageous and things like that anymore, because
Speaker 6: now you have the gambling aspect, you know what I mean,
Speaker 6: You have all these different brands and and all these
Speaker 6: different things outside of just playing the game that generate
Speaker 6: you know, money, you know, and so sometimes you know,
Speaker 6: when a guy you know doesn't want to push through
Speaker 6: or anything like that, you know, it's not just on
Speaker 6: the team. Guys have to understand that they stand on
Speaker 6: the shoulders of the people who came before them, who
Speaker 6: put in work, who was making you know, peanuts compared
Speaker 6: to what they played, what they made, And there's a
Speaker 6: healthy obligation responsibility to the next generation to persevere, to
Speaker 6: push through. The reason we still talk about willis reed
Speaker 6: right now to this day, though he didn't play that
Speaker 6: entire game, it's the fact that he showed up and
Speaker 6: he pushed through, and he motivated and he inspired. And
Speaker 6: I think our players are losing a little bit of
Speaker 6: insight on that. But at the same time, I understand
Speaker 6: that there's a business model, you know what I mean,
Speaker 6: there's a business model that these guys have to maximize
Speaker 6: and make as much as they can because that you know,
Speaker 6: you have a short window to earn.
Speaker 1: I think one thing that Kevin Garnett is always saying
Speaker 1: is is new lens. We got to look at it
Speaker 1: through a new lens. And I think for the most part,
Speaker 1: I do look at it through a lens. But again,
Speaker 1: PK brought up a point that I had talked to
Speaker 1: some of my homeboys about and I asked, you, because
Speaker 1: you're closer removed to the game as far from a
Speaker 1: coaching standpoint, Shit, I'll be eight years since I retired,
Speaker 1: But do these guys in the offseason. I'm not saying
Speaker 1: they do or don't, but do they prepare their self
Speaker 1: for eighty two plus? Are they pretty much preparing their
Speaker 1: self for one hundred games in the AUS? Because we
Speaker 1: used to, Katie, we used to kill ourselves in the summertime,
Speaker 1: kill ourselves in training camp and take around knee pads
Speaker 1: to a day. So my question is, with the training
Speaker 1: camps not being what they are, are they are and
Speaker 1: they don't practice as much anymore, like, are they preparing
Speaker 1: their body? And I don't want to call it war
Speaker 1: because there's a lot of shit going on in the world,
Speaker 1: But are they preparing their self for the rigors of
Speaker 1: a full ninety five game NBA season if we're talking
Speaker 1: about playoffs and in all that ninety five plus game season.
Speaker 1: And I don't know if they are, because again I'm
Speaker 1: not around the game no more. But I remember when
Speaker 1: we were coming up in the early two thousand and
Speaker 1: our era, we prided ourselves on playing as many games
Speaker 1: as possible, is it closer to eighty two as we
Speaker 1: can get, and then we knew we also had to
Speaker 1: go to the playoffs. Now I feel like now there's
Speaker 1: a ton of loads management and whether it's business, doc
Speaker 1: or medicine, and where we were not seeing the guys
Speaker 1: in the regular season, and then when it comes to
Speaker 1: the playoffs, they'll get there, then they get hurt again
Speaker 1: because I don't feel like their body was ready for
Speaker 1: what this fucking game is, because this game is a monster.
Speaker 6: You're right, Matt, and I feel you on your points,
Speaker 6: But I would say this like, because of the history,
Speaker 6: guys are eating better, guys are getting more risk. There's
Speaker 6: different devices that they have on them to monitor their
Speaker 6: heart rates, their recovery.
Speaker 7: The guys are doing hyper bary chambers. Guys are investing
Speaker 7: into trainers, physical on the court all that. So I
Speaker 7: think these young guys are prepared.
Speaker 6: Where I think there's a gap is in the mentality
Speaker 6: that they have compared to our generation. They don't have
Speaker 6: enough dogs around them. They don't have enough around them.
Speaker 2: I said it earlier, taken let them know how serving.
Speaker 6: The game like, making you dig deep. They are not
Speaker 6: willing to leave that court, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6: With it all on the line, they save a piece,
Speaker 6: you know what I'm saying for themselves in my opinion,
Speaker 6: So I think it's a case twenty two because I
Speaker 6: think they're more professional. I think they spend more time
Speaker 6: on their bodies, on their brands. They have more discipline,
Speaker 6: you know what I mean. Ain't as wild as our
Speaker 6: generation was, you know what I mean, in a lot
Speaker 6: of different ways. But I think, you know what I mean,
Speaker 6: it's not just a body thing. It's a mentality thing. Dog,
Speaker 6: it's the mind right bench, get your mind right. And
Speaker 6: I just don't think there's enough people around the game
Speaker 6: anymore that indoctrinate them. With the history of going through
Speaker 6: collective bargaining agreements, have events doing rookie responsibilities, have an
Speaker 6: event to tell you, you know, how to show up,
Speaker 6: how to be a professional, what you owe to the game.
Speaker 6: And then the next generation who's coming behind, because every
Speaker 6: generation behind us should benefit. And if these guys, you're
Speaker 6: going to continue to take games off, if guys aren't gonna,
Speaker 6: you know, continue to give it.
Speaker 7: They're all which I think they do within.
Speaker 6: The rules of the confine to a certain degree, but
Speaker 6: they don't look at it. The generation before we don't
Speaker 6: look at it like that because we would take quarters
Speaker 6: on shots, we would take toward all shots.
Speaker 2: You know what I mean? They whatever, take the play.
Speaker 2: We did what we want we wanted to period period up.
Speaker 1: Moving on the Warriors first three game winning streak since
Speaker 1: November five and one with Jimmy Butler quality wins over
Speaker 1: Milwaukee Houston Sack Butler's averaging twenty points, six rebound, six assists.
Speaker 1: Are the Warriors a legitimate threat in the Western Conference
Speaker 1: in your opinion?
Speaker 6: Well, you know what, I always think that there's a
Speaker 6: great area, Matt when you talk about pretenders are contenders,
Speaker 6: you know what I mean? And I think they're in
Speaker 6: the middle of that because they have a pedigree that
Speaker 6: they've been there before, so they're always dangerous when you
Speaker 6: get an addition like Jimmy Butler and put him in
Speaker 6: hear him with Steph. Those are two guys who've kind
Speaker 6: of been, you know, transcending in their own unique way.
Speaker 6: Steph more so because like he's a transitional he's a
Speaker 6: transformational player. But Jimmy has always thrived as being that
Speaker 6: second guy, right you know. And now when he went
Speaker 6: to the Heat, he had an opportunity to be the
Speaker 6: number one guy, so he knows how that feels. So
Speaker 6: I think there's not too many best, better second options
Speaker 6: than Jimmy Butler. What he brings to the team, especially
Speaker 6: when he's bought in, he's committed, and he's ten toes down,
Speaker 6: you know what I'm saying. Jimmy brings a whole mentality
Speaker 6: that most people can't bring because he doesn't just need
Speaker 6: the ball to score. He can cut, he can get lobs,
Speaker 6: he can get rebounds, He impacts the game on the
Speaker 6: defensive end. He knows how to get to the free
Speaker 6: throw line. And so Jimmy, I think, man is you
Speaker 6: can you can see you know it was a partnership
Speaker 6: because they did extend him as well. Right, and when
Speaker 6: you have your value and things like that, and you
Speaker 6: feel supported, you feel valued, you can be ten too.
Speaker 7: You don't have to hold anything back.
Speaker 6: And the pedigree that they have in that at Warriors
Speaker 6: locker room, and so I wouldn't say that they are
Speaker 6: a straight contender, but they are not a portender. They
Speaker 6: are somebody who is very dangerous and if they get
Speaker 6: you gotta beat them. You gotta beat them, guys, they
Speaker 6: got to beat them.
Speaker 2: You gotta beat them.
Speaker 1: I think one of my favorite things about Jimmy Butlers,
Speaker 1: although he's giving you the numbers, his impact does not
Speaker 1: know most of it. To me, his biggest impact isn't
Speaker 1: the statue. It's the impact he just has on the
Speaker 1: game and his energy and his mindset. The mindset is
Speaker 1: talking about. He's a fucking dog. The Knicks. The Knicks
Speaker 1: are ozer and seven against the top three teams in
Speaker 1: the league. Okay, see Boston and Cleveland. Coming off two
Speaker 1: double digit losses to Boston and Cleveland. Are the Knicks
Speaker 1: a threat in the Eastern Conference?
Speaker 7: I think they are. I think they are.
Speaker 6: I think they're third in the East right now. I
Speaker 6: think they have in that like thirty seven wins I
Speaker 6: think they're threat right. And you know the thing about
Speaker 6: TIBs coach teams is that the starters play a lot
Speaker 6: of minutes and so they get they get a lot
Speaker 6: of wear and tear on your body. And you and
Speaker 6: I both know that in the playoffs you always need
Speaker 6: somebody off the bench, you know what I mean, to
Speaker 6: come in and be that spark plug, to come in
Speaker 6: and you know what I mean, kind of shift the game.
Speaker 6: And I don't think, like during the regular season, you
Speaker 6: might have to sacrifice some wins to get those guys
Speaker 6: experienced so that they have their legs, so that they have,
Speaker 6: you know, all, their their confidence for the playoffs. And
Speaker 6: so I won''t say they're a pretender, but there's teams
Speaker 6: that they have more wins then that I would put
Speaker 6: ahead of them, like the Bucks. I think the Bucks
Speaker 6: got better, especially getting you know, Kevin Porter Junior had
Speaker 6: the trade dayline.
Speaker 1: Twenty six and six against teams with losing records, eleven
Speaker 1: and fourteen against teams with winning records. Towns's defense is
Speaker 1: absolutely terrible.
Speaker 2: Of late.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna push back a little bit and I want
Speaker 1: to put a disclaimer because I really like both of
Speaker 1: these players I really like Jalen Brunson, I really like
Speaker 1: Karl Anthony Towns. Are they one a's, are they alphas?
Speaker 1: Are either one of those players the best player on
Speaker 1: the floor that can lead you to a championship or
Speaker 1: are those both great sidekicks second option? I don't and
Speaker 1: I say that with all due respect. Yeah, they're both
Speaker 1: all stars making a ton of money. Like you know
Speaker 1: how people the talking shit, I'm not talking shit. I'm
Speaker 1: asking a question. Are they either one of those guys
Speaker 1: the guys that can lead you to a championship in
Speaker 1: your opinion?
Speaker 6: Well, I think on the offensive end, they are, you know,
Speaker 6: and I think that's why they peered them with bridges.
Speaker 6: I think that's why they bought you know, O g
Speaker 6: N as well to kind of, you know, give them
Speaker 6: that defensive push.
Speaker 2: Obviously, Josh Hart he's one of my favorite players.
Speaker 7: He's a OG.
Speaker 6: You know, he put in work at Billanoba, he's putting
Speaker 6: them work in the league, and he's continued to grow
Speaker 6: as a player and shooting the ball a lot better now.
Speaker 6: But I don't think that those two guys as your
Speaker 6: one A and one B get you a championship.
Speaker 7: You know, I just don't. I just did.
Speaker 6: I think that there's too many great players in our
Speaker 6: league that you know, they just you know, that's just
Speaker 6: not enough at this particular point. But what happens is
Speaker 6: if you give your guys on the bench an opportunity
Speaker 6: to come in and fill some gaps and things like that,
Speaker 6: you can have some role players that can come out
Speaker 6: and have big nights. Unfortunately, they don't give their guys
Speaker 6: on the bench enough minutes to bring a different element,
Speaker 6: to be a spark plug, to be a guy who
Speaker 6: could be a game changer.
Speaker 7: And I think that's gonna hurt them in the long run.
Speaker 1: I'm mad at that tank watch or suicide watch. Washington,
Speaker 1: New Orleans, Utah, Charlotte, Toronto, Philly, Brooklyn all want Cooper Flag.
Speaker 1: Cooper Flag is talking about he possibly might want to
Speaker 1: go to college. This nil life is good. I'm sure,
Speaker 1: Duke life is good. You got the Boozer Twins coming
Speaker 1: in next year, maybe a chance to go back to back,
Speaker 1: who knows. We remember Eli Manning pulled this when he
Speaker 1: was drafted by the Chargers and said he wouldn't play
Speaker 1: for the Chargers and ended up going to the Giants.
Speaker 1: And then Steve Francis pulled it saying he wouldn't play
Speaker 1: for was a Vancouver right, Yeah, Vancouver and ended up.
Speaker 2: Going to Houston.
Speaker 1: And not by any means am I saying Cooper Flag
Speaker 1: is on this type of energy or on this type
Speaker 1: of time. I've seen nothing but you know, outstanding, just
Speaker 1: an outstanding human when it comes to Cooper Flag. But
Speaker 1: what are your thoughts about kind of just these bottom
Speaker 1: dollers being the bottom dollars and him possibly going back
Speaker 1: to college and maybe coming back out the following year.
Speaker 1: Obviously there's a ton of money on the line, But
Speaker 1: does that not matter to him?
Speaker 6: Well, it matters, but it doesn't because like these guys
Speaker 6: have nil money now, right, and so it's not like
Speaker 6: they're living off pel grants, Matt, like how you and
Speaker 6: I were right are getting you know what I mean,
Speaker 6: nil under the table, you.
Speaker 7: Know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6: But I think he has, you know, a great opportunity
Speaker 6: right now because like at the end of the day,
Speaker 6: when you're considered the number one pick, the only way
Speaker 6: you can go is down.
Speaker 7: There is a young guy who's in high school right now.
Speaker 6: I think his name is like Ajd Fansa, and he
Speaker 6: is a potential number one pick when he's a prospect
Speaker 6: and he's eligible for the draft.
Speaker 7: And so that could have an impact on that. But
Speaker 7: I like player freedom.
Speaker 6: If you choose to stay in college and get that experience,
Speaker 6: if that's your in game, and then that's something you're
Speaker 6: enjoying right now, do it.
Speaker 7: But I think our game means Cooper.
Speaker 6: You know, we talked about this a couple episodes ago,
Speaker 6: Matt like, we need an American born, white player in
Speaker 6: my opinion, you know what I'm saying, to come in
Speaker 6: and represent I think, you know, the hard part is
Speaker 6: when you're a great player, is that you're gonna go
Speaker 6: to a bad team. And sometimes it takes guys, you know,
Speaker 6: it lessens the development curve. But I think he's talented enough.
Speaker 7: I think he's.
Speaker 6: Popular enough, and more so than anything, man, he's got
Speaker 6: a motor. He's got a motor. He's a skilled player
Speaker 6: who plays with energy. I think our game needs him
Speaker 6: to be successful. And getting him in the right place,
Speaker 6: in the right situation, you know what I mean, definitely
Speaker 6: helps incubate that talent, cultivate that talent, develop that talent.
Speaker 7: But I don't think you should wait. I think you
Speaker 7: should go and become a pro. You know what I mean.
Speaker 7: They can never take duke off your resume. You'll have
Speaker 7: that network.
Speaker 6: You can go back into summers, you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 6: and get your work in and get the college experience,
Speaker 6: take your classes and all that. But just the money
Speaker 6: that's available in the NBA right now. Man, I know,
Speaker 6: nil sounds.
Speaker 2: Cool when you're young to what the NBA is talking about.
Speaker 6: Man, Man like, I really think, you know, I would
Speaker 6: love to see him go, you know, go to the league,
Speaker 6: and I think he'll be the number one pick.
Speaker 1: He should be, you know, obviously for looking at any
Speaker 1: teams to land and obviously him going to San Antonio
Speaker 1: with Wimby would be insane. But also I like Philly.
Speaker 1: I like Philly a lot, and that leads us to
Speaker 1: our next thing. Uh, they've lost. Philly's lost seven in
Speaker 1: a row, nine out of ten, and beat his considering
Speaker 1: options for his need that's given him a ton of issues.
Speaker 1: Paul George's severely been struggling and came out and said
Speaker 1: he's taken injections in his knee just to play. I
Speaker 1: think it's safe to say that trusting the process is done.
Speaker 1: EMBIID has a monstrous contract for the next what four
Speaker 1: years after the season? Four yeah, after this season, four
Speaker 1: more years. I mean, what do you do, Katie, someone
Speaker 1: who's been you know, around the front office and in
Speaker 1: the front office and sat on the on the bench
Speaker 1: as a coach, what do you do with this seventy
Speaker 1: six ers team? MAXI is a killer, yeah, and the
Speaker 1: you know, the best player on the team right now
Speaker 1: because he's out there every single night doing it. What
Speaker 1: do you do with this Philly situation? Do you try
Speaker 1: to trade embiid? What do you I mean, what do
Speaker 1: you what do you do?
Speaker 7: You know what I think you gotta you know, be
Speaker 7: patient with it a little bit, right it is their.
Speaker 2: First Oh, patient with Paul and Embid.
Speaker 7: Yeah, and also with his body, you know, because because.
Speaker 2: We've been we've been trusting.
Speaker 1: We've been trusting the process for a long time though
Speaker 1: ten years, I would say ten years. We've been trusting
Speaker 1: the process. And this is no knock because we know
Speaker 1: and not to cut you off the last time cut
Speaker 1: you off and be healthy and beat on the court.
Speaker 1: Is one of the best basketball players in the world.
Speaker 1: Paul George Healthy is one of the best basketball players
Speaker 1: in the world.
Speaker 7: I feel you.
Speaker 6: You know what I mean, I definitely feel you. I
Speaker 6: feel your perspective on like trusting the process. Maybe it's
Speaker 6: time to you know, part ways and things like that.
Speaker 6: But what if you part ways with a generational player,
Speaker 6: right and he gets help after taking.
Speaker 7: Some time off, you know what I mean, he may
Speaker 7: need some time off. They may have to capitulate, you know,
Speaker 7: this season.
Speaker 6: They might have to lay it down and say, hey,
Speaker 6: you know what we got you guys in the contract,
Speaker 6: Let's give it a Let's give it next year.
Speaker 7: We kind of know what we're facing. Let's get our
Speaker 7: bodies white. Our body's right.
Speaker 6: I've seen guys come back from killer injuries, you know
Speaker 6: what I mean. I think I don't know if you
Speaker 6: played with Sean Livingston or not, but Sean is a
Speaker 6: guy who you know, like his need, you know, like
Speaker 6: it was a rough looking injury when he had it.
Speaker 6: Now he wasn't you know, maybe as athletic as he
Speaker 6: you know, he as he was previously, But he came
Speaker 6: back and he had an incredible career and contributed to
Speaker 6: a team. I think they may need to, you know, capitulate,
Speaker 6: try and see where they can position themselves to get
Speaker 6: another piece through the draft. I think they got to
Speaker 6: continue to let Maxie just develop and like not put
Speaker 6: a cap on him. I think the same with Paul.
Speaker 6: You gotta get him healthier. It's possible because you made
Speaker 6: the commitment. I mean, I saw the Lakers rescind the trade,
Speaker 6: you know what I mean, when they kind of did
Speaker 6: their physicals and things like that. So the Philadelphia doctors
Speaker 6: looked at his body and they signed up for.
Speaker 1: It, and so it might be they might have to
Speaker 1: capitulate with him too, But they capitulate with him and
Speaker 1: just pack them both in and give them this last
Speaker 1: twenty five just to rest and have a very important
Speaker 1: straight training summer and body right summer and really see
Speaker 1: what they got next year.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I would think so, I would really think so.
Speaker 6: I don't even know if they're in the play in.
Speaker 6: I think they're twelfth right now. I could be wrong
Speaker 6: about that, but I think they're twelfth right now as
Speaker 6: far as in the East, and I don't see them,
Speaker 6: you know, you know, climbing up that not with those guys' bodies,
Speaker 6: not right.
Speaker 7: I just don't think they have the.
Speaker 6: Time, the chemistry and the health, you know what, I mean,
Speaker 6: to be able to you know, like kind of you know,
Speaker 6: be a factor in the East.
Speaker 7: So I think they need to just kind of white
Speaker 7: flag it and surrender this year.
Speaker 2: Kad. We appreciate your time, Bro. We'll talk to you soon, Okay,
Speaker 2: jam always.
Speaker 1: Now I want to welcome to the show one of
Speaker 1: my favorite rachel I like your shoes.
Speaker 8: I thank you, VI, Sarah, Nate Bronson, special Iam Beer Jordan,
Speaker 8: very impressive.
Speaker 1: Hook me up tonight, big game Lakers in Dallas in LA.
Speaker 1: Unfortunately there will be no a d Luca just had
Speaker 1: his best game as a Laker the other night in Denver,
Speaker 1: Jj Reddick, So he's lost a ton of sleep game planning.
Speaker 1: But I know, Jay, that's JJ's game, and I know
Speaker 1: he loved it every minute of it. You got a
Speaker 1: little glimpse of bron and Luca kind of hitting their
Speaker 1: start at the same time they come up for only
Speaker 1: sixty points, nearly twenty rebounds, twelve assists in a dominating
Speaker 1: performance over Denver. Where is tonight's game? And you've been
Speaker 1: blessed to see a lot of revenge games and guys
Speaker 1: going back and playing against other teams. Where does this
Speaker 1: Luca versus Nico in the owners of the Dallas Mavericks
Speaker 1: stack of again for you, Well.
Speaker 8: Luca versus Nico is right because Ad is not going
Speaker 8: to be playing and this is going to be in
Speaker 8: La Yes, So for a true like revenge game, you kind.
Speaker 9: Of got to go to the other place.
Speaker 8: So the one that I saw that was like lit
Speaker 8: in person, that was the crazy at was Lebron's first
Speaker 8: trip back to Cleveland, right, that was crazy. People were
Speaker 8: throwing batteries at us on the sideline, like yeah, it
Speaker 8: was reporting and like it was it was out of
Speaker 8: control and like just the noise level was insane and
Speaker 8: all of this stuff. It's going to be interesting to
Speaker 8: see when Luca goes to Dallas. I think that happens
Speaker 8: in April. But this one, for me, it's not as
Speaker 8: spicy because AD's.
Speaker 9: Not in the mix.
Speaker 8: You're not seeing like my new team versus your new team,
Speaker 8: and it's not in Dallas. To me, the question is,
Speaker 8: if you're Nico Harrison, are you visibly sitting at that
Speaker 8: game where Luca can look at you talk his talk
Speaker 8: feed off saying things to you, or are you just
Speaker 8: in the building somewhere behind the.
Speaker 2: Scenes off subject.
Speaker 1: Real quick, weren't Nico and Polinka in the same building
Speaker 1: for a random reason the other night. Yeah, they're at
Speaker 1: a Warriors game, Warriors Gays Dallas. Okay, okay, So will
Speaker 1: Nico be present?
Speaker 8: I mean, I think he'll be in Los Angeles, but
Speaker 8: will he be will he be visibly?
Speaker 2: Lucas both known Nico for a long time.
Speaker 1: Good guy. I met him through Cobe and long time
Speaker 1: with Nike. I always thought that situation was above his
Speaker 1: head and he may just be the kind of in
Speaker 1: position as far as his job to kind of.
Speaker 2: Speak on it. Would you take that fall?
Speaker 9: Take that fall?
Speaker 2: I know?
Speaker 1: But I mean he's you know, he's got a nice
Speaker 1: job with that team. But I think that was more ownership.
Speaker 1: But that's neither here nor there. He's going to be
Speaker 1: the guy that's going to get the brunt of.
Speaker 9: The saying you're wrong.
Speaker 2: I'm just saying I wouldn't do it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So this would be, like I agree on all fronts.
Speaker 1: I think the Lakers have set themselves up post Lebron.
Speaker 1: Obviously with Luca, the Lakers.
Speaker 8: Need to start planning for the end of Luca's career,
Speaker 8: how they're going to build around Lebron.
Speaker 9: So they'll just play forever. I mean, I like, here's
Speaker 9: what I like.
Speaker 8: I like two things that the JJ said, the quiet
Speaker 8: part out loud. First of all, he made a big
Speaker 8: deal about prepping for this game in Denver, right where normally.
Speaker 9: It's like, we don't care, it's just a regular season game,
Speaker 9: it doesn't matter or whatever.
Speaker 2: Whatever.
Speaker 8: JJ's like, no, no, this is a big deal. And
Speaker 8: he made a big deal afterward by saying, I hope
Speaker 8: that you guys in the locker room can build on
Speaker 8: this psychologically. I hope this shows you what a good
Speaker 8: team you are and how good you can be, especially here.
Speaker 8: But they hadn't won in three years, and most coaches
Speaker 8: will be there, like, it's not a measuring stick game,
Speaker 8: it's not a big deal, just you know, regular season whatever.
Speaker 8: I love that he said that out loud. And I
Speaker 8: also love that he was like, yeah, Lucas playing on
Speaker 8: ball because that's been a thing, right and he said
Speaker 8: we're going to go through Lucamore.
Speaker 2: I love that.
Speaker 1: But I also think too, I mean, you can't rule
Speaker 1: them out of representing the Western Conference. I don't feel
Speaker 1: like you could rule them or Denver out. They've got experience,
Speaker 1: they got Hall of famers, there's a lot of young
Speaker 1: there's a lot of youth at the top of the
Speaker 1: Western Conference, and okay, see very male could be their
Speaker 1: year to come out of the West. I still think
Speaker 1: it's Boston's championship to lose. But I don't think you
Speaker 1: can rule the Lakers out. I don't think you ruled
Speaker 1: Denver out. And you have to step on the Warriors
Speaker 1: like they're Freddie or Jason, like you have to really
Speaker 1: make sure they're dead. Because with the injection of Jimmy,
Speaker 1: what he's been able.
Speaker 2: To do is huge.
Speaker 1: But I saw that to say, you know, the big
Speaker 1: deal is Lebron and Luca don't really play defense, but
Speaker 1: there's every team has a couple guys that don't play defense.
Speaker 1: Can they be a good defensive team. Can they be
Speaker 1: in the right position, Can they communicate? Can they play
Speaker 1: with energy and second and third effort? And I think
Speaker 1: that's what jaj is trying to instill understand, like, hey,
Speaker 1: you know the elephant in the room. We know Bron
Speaker 1: is forty, so we need him to do certain things.
Speaker 1: Luca's going to get better at effort obviously being here
Speaker 1: with all the eyes on him. Can we be a solid,
Speaker 1: solid team, defensive team, and can that be good enough
Speaker 1: to make a run for us.
Speaker 9: Well, how much is the size thing a factor for you?
Speaker 8: Because you know, it has seemed over the last couple
Speaker 8: of years that the West especially was trending big. Yeah, right,
Speaker 8: and you had to be big to compete. But Minnesota's
Speaker 8: not playing so well this year, right, And some of
Speaker 8: the other teams that like that aren't playing so well.
Speaker 8: I mean, Oklahoma City is not that big.
Speaker 1: I think the only issue with big is if the
Speaker 1: Lakers have to run into Denver in the playoffs because
Speaker 1: you look, you know, and again, I feel like Boston
Speaker 1: is the best team coming. Boston's not big, They're very
Speaker 1: skilled that there skilled positions, and their big guys play hard.
Speaker 1: So I mean, Jackson Hayes is gonna, you know, gonna
Speaker 1: do a lot and have to really pick his game up.
Speaker 1: But I just think it's more can they be a
Speaker 1: good defensive team or team defensive team and and and
Speaker 1: you know, ride this way. Lakers top sense of defense
Speaker 1: over the last that's a nice that's an that's an
Speaker 1: espnish status, And they top six and defense over the
Speaker 1: last five h and again, defense is a mindset.
Speaker 2: You know that you've been running the game long enough.
Speaker 1: There's there's always guys on every team that are good
Speaker 1: that don't play defense. You know, it's just a factive
Speaker 1: effort in a mindset. So you know, I think JJ.
Speaker 1: I gave JJ Hughes praise at the beginning of the season,
Speaker 1: and they started off good, then they started off a
Speaker 1: little slow. I believe in JJ because I know he
Speaker 1: puts the work in. So again, that's why to me,
Speaker 1: you can't rule out the Lakers or Denver in this way.
Speaker 9: Picture agree, agree, agree.
Speaker 1: Main takeaway from All Star I got a chance to
Speaker 1: sit down with PK sue Ban, who came off a
Speaker 1: huge segment that has really drawn a lot of attention
Speaker 1: and criticism and applause. At the same time, Four Nations
Speaker 1: for NHL NHAF figured out they're All Star format and
Speaker 1: the Four Nations thing was a success. The NBA is
Speaker 1: still trying to figure out what that is for them.
Speaker 1: What was your takeaway from this new format they used
Speaker 1: this past two weeks ago.
Speaker 9: I didn't like it going in, I.
Speaker 8: Didn't like it when it was happening, I didn't like
Speaker 8: it afterward.
Speaker 2: It's just dumb.
Speaker 8: I'm sorry, Like there's no other way to say this.
Speaker 8: We're inventing like six ways to play a basketball game.
Speaker 8: You know, how you play a basketball game. Two teams
Speaker 8: play against each other and see who's the best.
Speaker 9: That's what happens. That is a good basketball game.
Speaker 8: So if you're looking to fix the actual game itself,
Speaker 8: if you still want to have a game, I still say,
Speaker 8: don't make it the last thing in the weekend. So
Speaker 8: the guys are trying to get on a plane and
Speaker 8: get out six seconds after.
Speaker 9: The game ends.
Speaker 8: Fill the arena with not corporate types. Have people who
Speaker 8: care in the stands. We're gonna yell and call people
Speaker 8: out if they miss a step on.
Speaker 9: Defense or something like that.
Speaker 8: Like phill it with give it the tickets to charities,
Speaker 8: and like fill it with kids. I mean, you get
Speaker 8: you get guys playing harder. Another way to go is
Speaker 8: we talk to people about maybe doing a one on
Speaker 8: one tournament instead. Though, have you been paying attention to
Speaker 8: the unrivaled?
Speaker 1: So unrival did their thing, and I think what scared people?
Speaker 1: And forgive me because I forgot the girl's name who
Speaker 1: beat Stewie? Yeah one, no, no, no, but who was
Speaker 1: the girl that beat Stewie twelve?
Speaker 2: Oh? Yes, forgive me, Edward, you did your thing.
Speaker 1: That's I like the one on one thing, but I
Speaker 1: think that right there with a younger player beating a
Speaker 1: legend and there in her game, I saw it.
Speaker 2: I loved it.
Speaker 1: You've talked to players along this. KG has been adamant
Speaker 1: about this. You've talked to a handful of other guys
Speaker 1: that would love this. What has been their feedback, not
Speaker 1: necessarily after, but just in general that guys are some
Speaker 1: people say NBA players don't. I think it sounds like
Speaker 1: guys are welcoming the challenge.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 9: I talked to If you guys, you can listen to
Speaker 9: what they told me.
Speaker 8: And if you saw the Unrivaled League the women, Yes,
Speaker 8: they got down with that one on one tournament. What
Speaker 8: do you think about doing one of those here at
Speaker 8: the All Star Game.
Speaker 2: Yeah. When there's smoke, there's fire, and that's in the
Speaker 2: fire in one on one.
Speaker 8: We talked to James Harden, we talked to Kyrie Irving,
Speaker 8: we talked to Anthony Edwards. Janna sent it to Koompa,
Speaker 8: Damian Lillard. These are guys who you'd want to see
Speaker 8: in this kind of tournament. Kyrie said something interesting to
Speaker 8: your point though, about Stewie. He said we'd have to
Speaker 8: agree to talk about the tournament differently, the way it's broadcast,
Speaker 8: the way it's discussed. And I think his point is
Speaker 8: if it was presented by the broadcasting network is like.
Speaker 9: Oh, who's going to embarrass who?
Speaker 8: And present it by fans and kind of players made
Speaker 8: to feel like they were putting themselves out there in
Speaker 8: a way that would be negative more than anything they
Speaker 8: could get from it. They're not going to do it.
Speaker 8: He's like, we'd all have to kind of collectively agree
Speaker 8: to talk about it differently.
Speaker 9: It's just something fun.
Speaker 8: If guys like, hey, you get beat one on one,
Speaker 8: that doesn't mean that you're a terrible basketball player. And
Speaker 8: I thought that was kind of interesting. I don't know
Speaker 8: if collectively, in an NBA Twitter era, we can I.
Speaker 1: Don't think there's anywhere around the memes and the and
Speaker 1: and just the outside noise and I and I personally
Speaker 1: feel like that's what may keep it from not happening,
Speaker 1: is is our pride, you know what I mean?
Speaker 9: Like, what would you if it was you?
Speaker 1: I would try us versus the world first and foremost
Speaker 1: for the All Star Game and bring a sense of
Speaker 1: pride to that game because it's it's it's been lost.
Speaker 1: I think it's no secrets and what was Kobe's last
Speaker 1: doll game sixteen? Yep, it guys just haven't played hard,
Speaker 1: and I'm who to blame. I'm not here to find
Speaker 1: out who the blame. I want to help, you know,
Speaker 1: help figure out what the what the fixes why versus
Speaker 1: the world because I just think it's some pride there. Okay,
Speaker 1: there'll be some pride there.
Speaker 9: I think fill out the rosters for me though.
Speaker 7: That's it's gonna be tough.
Speaker 1: I think it's going to be ten and ten and ten,
Speaker 1: twelve and twelve. Some guys are going to get cut.
Speaker 1: Some guys that deserve to make a normal they won't.
Speaker 9: That's where it gets sticky. So it's two things.
Speaker 8: Reason why I can tell I can sit here and
Speaker 8: tell you, just knowing the business of the NBA, why
Speaker 8: I will. I don't think we will ever see you
Speaker 8: as savers. I think that the Eastern Conference UH team
Speaker 8: owners and the Western Conference team owner still want their
Speaker 8: equal number of spots because having an All Star is
Speaker 8: good for you, right, is good for you and good
Speaker 8: for marketing. So they're not going to give that up
Speaker 8: as sort of the way things go down. And then
Speaker 8: also at least right now, even though you would have
Speaker 8: a really good World team, it would be softer at
Speaker 8: the end of the roster, right, and then you'd have
Speaker 8: a bunch of American guys.
Speaker 2: It should be there should be all stars.
Speaker 8: I mean, who legit should be all stars. If it
Speaker 8: was only a ten to twelve man roster, would not
Speaker 8: make it. And can you imagine having your All Star spot?
Speaker 9: You're rightful? You know that you're an All Star that
Speaker 9: year and then you.
Speaker 2: Would make the team and they take how many each year?
Speaker 2: Just right now? That as that we stand right now,
Speaker 2: it's twelve and twelve right, twenty four total?
Speaker 8: Yeah, think about the arguments about the snubs this year, like,
Speaker 8: I don't know who do you feel, Dylan, who do
Speaker 8: you feel is the most snub?
Speaker 7: You think that the back half of the World team
Speaker 7: this year would be weaker.
Speaker 2: Than the Americans.
Speaker 8: I think that the end of the last third of
Speaker 8: the World team top heavy, it would be weaker than
Speaker 8: of guys who wouldn't make an All Star team. Do
Speaker 8: a ten or twelve man roster for me and tell
Speaker 8: me the last number, like ten, eleven, twelve guys are
Speaker 8: and would they actually make an All Star team if
Speaker 8: it was quote fair ups, if it was just East
Speaker 8: versus West, would they make the All Star Okay?
Speaker 6: The world, Shay s g A, that's the same person,
Speaker 6: Luca Kokich.
Speaker 8: Did you just count s and s g as two
Speaker 8: people because it's the.
Speaker 7: Same person, Luca Jokic.
Speaker 2: Yannis wembyonisbonis what you're up to? Seven? Okay?
Speaker 8: So, by the way, he's going to play for the
Speaker 8: Wait wait wait wait wait, soons didn't make the All
Speaker 8: Star Game this year, so you're saying that he's number
Speaker 8: seven on your words, I'm just telling you that you've
Speaker 8: got seven and I'm getting into guy okay again, Jamal Murray,
Speaker 8: a guy who I don't think has never made an
Speaker 8: All Star Game?
Speaker 5: Is that right?
Speaker 4: Never? Never?
Speaker 2: Who?
Speaker 8: By the way, I think Jamal Murray is underrated, But
Speaker 8: the truth is he's never.
Speaker 7: Made a Yeah a star this year?
Speaker 8: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Sure.
Speaker 8: But you're looking at me as if you're proving your.
Speaker 9: Point when you're not.
Speaker 8: You're proving my point as you talk, as you talk
Speaker 8: and pointed me, you're proving my point.
Speaker 9: That's an American.
Speaker 2: Back to Italy again.
Speaker 8: So you're you're you're twisting and stretching to get yourself.
Speaker 8: These are guys who wouldn't normally so so from seven
Speaker 8: on you're talking about guys who did not make except
Speaker 8: for Shangoon, did not make the All Star rosters this year.
Speaker 8: And then on the American side, give me the rosters
Speaker 8: who have American players who made it this year.
Speaker 7: Luka, Murray, Wenbys, Kyrie Sangoon.
Speaker 8: Okay, so Embiid isn't playing Australia, is not playing for
Speaker 8: the By the way, Kyrie is not competing in a
Speaker 8: World versus USA All Star game where he's playing for
Speaker 8: the World second of all, and BID's not playing this year,
Speaker 8: so you can't like say that he's in there. You're
Speaker 8: talking about guys in the ten, eleven, and twelve spot
Speaker 8: who are not typical, who in a regular All Star
Speaker 8: format would not make the team. And then do the
Speaker 8: Americans for me, because that's an important part of this equation,
Speaker 8: as how Soft at the end of the world team
Speaker 8: being the really big part of this for me is
Speaker 8: making an All Star game is a huge deal. I
Speaker 8: think that it is being able to say I was
Speaker 8: an All Star, I'm an X time All Star.
Speaker 9: I think it's sort of the pinnacle of the.
Speaker 8: NBA because it's such a star driven league. That weekend
Speaker 8: everyone participates versus the finals. It's just two teams, that
Speaker 8: sort of thing. And you are denying guys who legit
Speaker 8: should be All Stars. And I don't mean fringe guys,
Speaker 8: I mean anyone number.
Speaker 9: Thirteen through twenty four.
Speaker 8: You're saying wouldn't make the All Star Game anymore.
Speaker 9: Come on, you can't do it.
Speaker 1: Be tough, be tough, moving on. And I cannot confirm
Speaker 1: or deny this is the truth, Rachel. But you have
Speaker 1: your ear to the NBA streets. Tell me, tell me
Speaker 1: Lebron James playing in the All Star Game was a
Speaker 1: fuck you to the NBA for having the young players
Speaker 1: involved in this little round robin turning.
Speaker 9: Him not playing. I do know that that.
Speaker 8: I have been told by people that they did not
Speaker 8: expect him to play for days at all the time,
Speaker 8: as opposed to, oh he woke up that morning. Okay,
Speaker 8: So if it was a fuck you, it was a
Speaker 8: it was a drawn fuck you, drawn out they fuck you.
Speaker 9: It was a I am not doing this type of thing.
Speaker 2: I don't. I mean I don't because he did play.
Speaker 1: He played the first game out of the break right
Speaker 1: and he looked incredible. Yeah, they were the first game, right, Charlotte. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we we had some inside information and we can't divulge
Speaker 1: our sources. And I hate when they used to do
Speaker 1: this on TV too. It used to piss me off.
Speaker 1: But some people said that, some people that have some
Speaker 1: knowledge of the game, and I don't know if it's true,
Speaker 1: that it was kind of like a fuck you to
Speaker 1: the NBA for the format and allowing these younger players
Speaker 1: that don't necessarily deserve the opportunity to be on the
Speaker 1: stage with the All Stars bronze that.
Speaker 2: He wasn't doing it.
Speaker 8: Yeah, just wait till we get to the USA versus
Speaker 8: the world and you have that in balance, and we
Speaker 8: really get this for you.
Speaker 9: I mean, look, was it worth? Was it enough of
Speaker 9: a fuck you?
Speaker 8: It was worth taking his streak because it's pretty damn
Speaker 8: good streak going was.
Speaker 2: Six seventeen years sad or something like that.
Speaker 9: Star Starter.
Speaker 8: Played every year and then he played every year since then.
Speaker 9: So so yeah, so you'd really have to be willing.
Speaker 8: But maybe at this point he's like, you know, he's
Speaker 8: like Danny murtak.
Speaker 1: Man, did you have any issues with kind of the
Speaker 1: way it went about just everyone else thought it was
Speaker 1: last minting. He didn't dress, he didn't do any I
Speaker 1: kind of feel like man's that's he's deserved. If anyone
Speaker 1: can do that as him, it would be a bigger
Speaker 1: issue of something.
Speaker 2: You didn't love it.
Speaker 8: I didn't love it just because I think biggest I
Speaker 8: said before, I think being an All Star is a
Speaker 8: cool things, special thing, and he could have given that
Speaker 8: to somebody else. You know, there's a way to still.
Speaker 8: I don't know what the technical if he then still
Speaker 8: is an All Star that year. I don't know if
Speaker 8: he had been giving up being an All Star.
Speaker 9: I don't know what that.
Speaker 6: If you're injured, you're still still technically an All Star,
Speaker 6: like Trey is an All Star and so is Anthony Davis.
Speaker 8: And by the way, I don't know for sure there
Speaker 8: were new days ahead of time, but there were people
Speaker 8: who told me in the days leading up they did
Speaker 8: not think play.
Speaker 9: So there you go to me.
Speaker 7: It's Norman Powell could have got that spot. He played
Speaker 7: the three point contest the day before. He was deserving.
Speaker 1: I respected that. A lot of guys are le bron
Speaker 1: do whatever you want to do, bro Rachel, you were
Speaker 1: in Paris for the Olympics. Netflix just released Quarter Gold.
Speaker 1: We got a chance to preview it at the All
Speaker 1: Star Game a couple of weeks ago. A ton of
Speaker 1: viral moments. Let's take a look at this clip.
Speaker 7: What are you thinking about this young guy?
Speaker 2: He can hook a little bit.
Speaker 7: Huh A little h Yeah, I'll be just fan down
Speaker 7: the true, true, the truth. I guess he cold.
Speaker 3: I got a game we created, he gave year time
Speaker 3: we played, and and and and y'all got.
Speaker 2: And he's still.
Speaker 7: Don't talk.
Speaker 3: No, I'm just saying he got.
Speaker 7: He got three. That's right, because you got credit.
Speaker 2: I told you that he did.
Speaker 7: He did, he did the game.
Speaker 5: I remember, okay, leabay, this man. Are y'all talking to
Speaker 5: this young man? Because because he just keeps on right now,
Speaker 5: he just said he's the truth and all that and
Speaker 5: the truth, the whole truth or none. But that's what
Speaker 5: he said.
Speaker 7: You asked him, tell him the whole context of the situation.
Speaker 2: You asked him what he thinks about this young man,
Speaker 2: and he said, I'm okay.
Speaker 7: I said I'm the truth.
Speaker 6: Truth.
Speaker 3: That's what happened.
Speaker 2: All that.
Speaker 7: We got to have that man the truth like that.
Speaker 1: So this is streaming on Netflix right now for your
Speaker 1: as you don't know, going there and check it out.
Speaker 1: Rachel as someone who was there around that, around that team, thoughts,
Speaker 1: I had so.
Speaker 8: Interesting watching Aunt there because here's a guy who definitely
Speaker 8: ran out of gas a bit at the end of
Speaker 8: the playoffs, right the Western Conference Finals. Whether it was
Speaker 8: just the energy level, whether it was just getting that
Speaker 8: much attention, defensive attention and sort of having it come
Speaker 8: with it to the level that we saw at certain
Speaker 8: times during the playoffs, having to do that every night
Speaker 8: of a Western Conference finals. So I was super interested
Speaker 8: going into Paris what he would be like around the
Speaker 8: other guys, if he would be like I'm the one,
Speaker 8: I'm number one, which he said during Trading Camp member right,
Speaker 8: He's like, I'm number one on this team. But he
Speaker 8: did really when we were in Paris, seemed to show
Speaker 8: a lot of deference to the Kds, to the Lebron's,
Speaker 8: and you saw that in the documentary. Even with the
Speaker 8: shit he was talking to Obama, you can see how
Speaker 8: he is. He's kidney candy store around Kevin.
Speaker 2: Durant taken up.
Speaker 8: And I loved watching that because then whenever it looks
Speaker 8: like it might not be this year. But whenever he
Speaker 8: gets back to the Western Conference finals, and he will,
Speaker 8: You and I both know he will get back to
Speaker 8: a conference finals at some point he will be a
Speaker 8: different guy in part because of these experiences.
Speaker 6: M hm.
Speaker 1: Before we get you out of your rate, we are
Speaker 1: coming to the end. And whether it's two three with Braun,
Speaker 1: who knows, maybe four when those three are gone, Kevin,
Speaker 1: Steph and Lebron, who do you kind of see?
Speaker 2: Is there a face?
Speaker 1: And someone asked Katie this the other day and he's like,
Speaker 1: what does that mean? What does the face mean? There's
Speaker 1: a lot that comes with it, good and bad. Who
Speaker 1: were is it?
Speaker 2: Will it be by committee? Will?
Speaker 1: Is there one guy that stands out to who do
Speaker 1: you think is going to carry that torch moving forward?
Speaker 1: And isn't an American player?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 8: I mean, look, I covered Michael Jordan both when he
Speaker 8: was playing and then leaving the league multiple times. I
Speaker 8: covered him Chicago when he retired and who was the
Speaker 8: next Jordan? Then I covered him in DC? Then it
Speaker 8: was who's the next Jordan? And it was first of
Speaker 8: all we had like eight guys labeled the next Jordan?
Speaker 3: Right?
Speaker 8: Remember the herald Minor conversation Grant Hill, et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker 8: No one's ever the next steph Curry, Kevin Durant or
Speaker 8: Lebron James. It's usually there's a little void kind of
Speaker 8: right after guys like that retire, where people are feeling
Speaker 8: around and then someone emerges. Lebron James emerged right he
Speaker 8: was drafted right when Michael finally quit. Like I think,
Speaker 8: to me, if I had to speculate now, I would say,
Speaker 8: Victor Webbin Yama this injury, notwithstanding Anthony Edwards, guys like
Speaker 8: that are going to be the future face of the league.
Speaker 8: I am still on record that depending you know. Look, obviously,
Speaker 8: if there's some huge health thing, I can't predict that.
Speaker 8: But if he goes on to play a normal career,
Speaker 8: Victor Webbin Yama to me, is going to be a
Speaker 8: top ten of all time player, and so I.
Speaker 9: Think he is your next face of the league. It's
Speaker 9: just gonna take a while.
Speaker 2: I mean, that's a wrap. Rachel.
Speaker 1: Thank you for your time, looking forward to having you back.
Speaker 2: Unplug.
Speaker 1: You can catch us on all the Smoke Productions, YouTube
Speaker 1: and the Draft Kings Network. We'll see y'all next week.